Ikeya Seki in 1965

Comet Ikeya-Seki,long-period comet that is one of a group of Sun-grazing comets having similar orbits and including the great comet known as 1882 II. Comet Ikeya-Seki was discovered Sept. 18, 1965, by two Japanese amateur astronomers, Ikeya Kaoru and Seki Tsutomu. Moving in a retrograde orbit, the comet made its closest approach to the Sun on Oct. 21, 1965, at a distance less than a solar radius from the surface.